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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26890534">An Unbreakable Connection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/wayfinderings/pseuds/wayfinderings'>wayfinderings</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>RokuVen Week 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Gifts, Lucky Charms, Wayfinders (Kingdom Hearts), arts and crafts, written platonically but can be read romantically</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:41:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,914</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26890534</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/wayfinderings/pseuds/wayfinderings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ven wiped a few beads of sweat from his brow, letting out a sigh as he gave himself a moment for his magic to recharge itself fully. He was almost done with this little pet project of his he had spent time over the past couple of weeks perfecting. It had to be perfect; Ven wouldn’t let himself settle for anything else. It was a gift for Roxas, after all. That alone was enough for Ven to push himself to his absolute limit to make it the best that he possibly could.</p>
<p>The binding spell...</p>
<p>Ven needed to be able to draw on every single ounce of energy in his magical reserves if he was going to be able to cast it correctly.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kairi &amp; Riku &amp; Sora &amp; Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi &amp; Riku &amp; Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Roxas &amp; Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>RokuVen Week 2020 [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957120</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>An Unbreakable Connection</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/21315673">The Joining of Unlike Things</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousapelli/pseuds/mousapelli">mousapelli</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Here's a nice and sweet fic before I crush y'all with angst tomorrow. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised I managed to hold all the big angst until tomorrow, considering what one of today's prompts was.</p>
<p>Day 4: **Creation** | Reason for Being | "I'm asking you, as a friend. Just...put an end to me."</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Almost done…”</p>
<p>Ven wiped a few beads of sweat from his brow, letting out a sigh as he gave himself a moment for his magic to recharge itself fully. He was almost done with this little pet project of his he had spent time over the past couple of weeks perfecting. It <em>had</em> to be perfect; Ven wouldn’t let himself settle for anything else. It was a gift for Roxas, after all. That alone was enough for Ven to push himself to his absolute limit to make it the best that he possibly could.</p>
<p>He glanced to the side, looking over the concept sketches for the item, focusing solely on the centerpiece, the last piece that had needed to be created before he could cast the finishing spell that would fuse each of the individual pieces together in a way that would make it virtually indestructible.</p>
<p>The binding spell...not to be confused with the spell, Bind….</p>
<p>Ven needed to be able to draw on every single ounce of energy in his magical reserves if he was going to be able to cast it correctly.</p>
<p>“Ven!”</p>
<p>He barely had a moment to look up from his work before he was suddenly knocked onto the floor and wrapped up in a hug so tight only one person could be giving it. Ven couldn’t help but notice how his heart warmed, being so very close again to the place it had called home for over a decade.</p>
<p>He let out a laugh, returning the hug while laid out on the floor. “It’s nice to see you, too, Sora.”</p>
<p>“You need to come and visit the Islands more often!” Sora shouted, giving Ven one more squeeze before he let go and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. “It’s been forever since the last time I’ve gotten to see you!”</p>
<p>“Sora, you just saw Ven a couple of weeks ago.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, it hasn’t been <em>that</em> long..”</p>
<p>At the sounds of two other voices, Ven turned to the doorway to see Riku and Kairi standing in it. He couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he pushed himself up onto his feet and rushed over to give Kairi a quick squeeze and Riku a small high-five.</p>
<p>“A couple of weeks is too long, and he knows it.” Sora complained, walking up to rejoin the rest of the group with a playful glare on his face aimed in Ven’s direction. Ven chuckled nervously, reaching up with a hand to rub his neck.</p>
<p>“Sorry, Sora...I’ve been a little busy..”</p>
<p>“That’s right! Aqua told us you were making something for Roxas when we’d asked where you were earlier.” Kairi commented, “We wanted to see what you were up to, so she let us come down after we all finished our training drills for the day.”</p>
<p>“If you don’t mind letting us see, of course.” Riku added, “We can leave if it’s supposed to be some kind of big surprise or something.”</p>
<p>Ven shook his head. “No, it’s no problem at all! Actually, you guys caught me at just about the perfect time! I’m in the middle of taking a break to let my magic recharge for a bit. I don’t mind letting you see what I’ve been working on.” He motioned to the group for them to follow him over to the table he had been working at, a bit crowded with the individual pieces of his project sorted and his numerous concept sketches haphazardly stacked to the side.</p>
<p>“Whoa! This looks amazing so far, Ven!” Sora exclaimed, looking over all the brilliant silver and orange pieces laid out.</p>
<p>“They’re glass Thalassa shells….” Kairi said, leaning over the table to study the sparkling assortment more closely.</p>
<p>“Thalassa shells?” Ven asked, cocking in head to the side in confusion.</p>
<p>“Whoa, you’re right.” Riku added, “Mind offering us a bit of an explanation, Ven? I thought seashells were more Xion’s thing.” </p>
<p>Ven dug a hand into one of his pockets, “Well, I didn’t know that they were apparently shaped like seashells...but…..”</p>
<p>He fished a trinket out of his pocket, crafted from five green and dark navy blue pieces, lined with silver, and shaped like a star. “I made this one for myself as practice for the one I’m making for Roxas. Aqua made a couple for the three of us right before everything with Xehanort happened, and I always thought they looked pretty, too.”</p>
<p>“Aqua made Wayfinders for you guys?” Kairi asked.</p>
<p>“Is that what they’re called…” Ven muttered to himself before a realization hit him, “Wait, you know what these are?”</p>
<p>Kairi nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah! My parents taught me how to make them out of seashells and twine when I was still fairly new to the islands. I still make them every once and awhile, but it’s hard to find enough unblemished shells on the beaches…”</p>
<p>
  <em>Technically, I think you’re supposed to make them with seashells, but I did the best with what I had.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Somewhere out there is a tree with star-shaped fruit, and that fruit represents an unbreakable connection.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>As long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like one…</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>You’ll always find your way back to each other.</em>
</p>
<p>Suddenly, Ven’s heart was ablaze with determination. He had heard some of the legends from the Destiny Islands plenty of times from the three islanders currently paying him a visit, and especially the legends that surrounded the odd, star-shaped fruit that grew there. Looking back, it was a wonder Ven hadn’t put two and two together a whole lot sooner. He hadn’t exactly been to many other worlds with a prominent legend that centered on a native, one-of-a-kind starfruit.</p>
<p>Knowing his gift to Roxas was connected to that very same legend, one that spoke of an unbreakable connection forming between two people, there was even less room for error now than there was before. Even if he didn’t plan on explicitly enchanting the charms the same way that Aqua had when she had crafted hers all those years ago, that same magic of connections would run through the metal and the glass by virtue of what they represented. He couldn’t afford to mess everything up now.</p>
<p>With a quick mental check of his magic, he pocketed his Wayfinder charm and quickly began arranging the pieces of the one he would be giving to Roxas -- five orange and yellow shell-shaped star points, a centerpiece charm matching the x-shaped zipper on Roxas’s jacket, and a silver chain an additional little sea salt ice cream charm on its end, all things that reminded Ven of Roxas. The perpetual sunset sky of Twilight Town, the jacket Ven occasionally stole from him, and his seemingly infinite tolerance for the salty-sweet ice cream treat he practically couldn’t live without.</p>
<p>“You guys might want to take a few steps back.” Ven warned, holding his hands up over the arranged pieces, closing his eyes and letting out a breath to center himself as he prepared to tap into the deepest depths of his magical reserves. He listened to the three pairs of footsteps as they got further away and stopped on the other side of the room, furrowing his brows in concentration as he began channeling his magic into his hands.</p>
<p>A brilliant green glow lit up the workstation as a powerful gust of wind sent a handful of papers flying against the walls. A couple even blew back towards Ven’s spectators, one of which smacked Sora square in the face, much to Riku and Kairi’s amusement. A couple of strands of magical energy snaked out, wrapping themselves around the loosely constructed Wayfinder, looping in patterns of complicated knots and tangles as Ven grit his teeth, beginning to feel the exhaustion typically left by this type of spellcasting nip at his heels.</p>
<p>
  <em>I can’t give up...not yet…</em>
</p>
<p>Another gust of wind burst outwards, accompanied by a bright pulse of Ven’s magic. He could feel his arms beginning to shake as more and more tendrils of magic wrapped around the components of  Roxas’s charm, lifting it off of the table bit by bit. He could hear gasps of awe from Sora and Kairi. Just a little more. <em>Just a little bit more...</em></p>
<p>Gritting his teeth with the effort, Ven managed to pry open one of his eyes to see the charm completely encased in his brightly glowing magic, gently floating and turning as gusts of wind twirled around it. One last push should do it…</p>
<p>In one swift motion with an intensification of the glow of his magic, Ven clapped his hands together around the charm. An explosion of light and wind engulfed the entire work studio, and the three islanders quickly raised their arms up to protect their eyes from it all. They felt the swift winds buffeting their hair and the bright light warm everything around them.</p>
<p>After a moment, the onslaught of both elements died down, and Sora quickly pulled his hands away from his eyes to see Ven standing almost stock-still, his fingers still tightly curled around what was hopefully his successfully forged Wayfinder for Roxas. He didn’t move for a moment, and Sora briefly wondered if he was still working magic, just without as much of the pyrotechnics involved.</p>
<p>That thought was quickly chased away, however, as he watched Ven’s knees buckle under his own weight and send him crashing to the ground in a tired heap.</p>
<p>“Ven!” Sora shouted, rushing over with Riku and Kairi close behind him. “Ven, are you okay?”</p>
<p>Kairi dropped to her knees next to him, a Cure spell on her lips. As the spell’s signature vines twirled their way up his arms, Ven’s eyes fluttered open as he recovered from his brief loss of consciousness.</p>
<p>“Are you alright, Ven?” Riku asked, lowering himself down onto one knee next to Sora and Kairi.</p>
<p>Ven didn’t say anything at first, looking up at the islanders in a bit of a daze before looking down and opening his hands. Sitting in the palms of his hands was Roxas’s shiny new Wayfinder, perfectly bound and fused together. He managed a tired smile at the sight.</p>
<p>“Yeah….perfect, actually.”</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>~</p>
<p>“Roxas!!”</p>
<p>Ven shouted to get his look-alike’s attention as he ran towards him, weaving around a few other citizens of Twilight Town before sliding to a stop.</p>
<p>“Hey, Ven. Where’s the fire?” Roxas asked, letting out a laugh as Ven shook his head vigorously. </p>
<p>“No, no fire! I’ve got something to give you!</p>
<p>“Huh? Really? What is --”  He was cut off as Ven shoved the Wayfinder he had made into his face.</p>
<p>“I made this for you, Roxas!” Ven exclaimed, a bright and wide smile spreading across his face.</p>
<p>Surprised, Roxas took the star-shaped charm in his hands, turning it over and examining it. “You made this?” he asked in mild disbelief, looking back up at Ven, who nodded vigorously as he fished his own matching one out of his pocket.</p>
<p>“I made myself one, too! They’re called Wayfinders. They’re special charms that form an unbreakable connection between people. I wanted to have something like that with you….something that would last forever, no matter what.”</p>
<p>Roxas was at a loss for words. Ven really wanted something like that...with him? He looked back down at the charm he had been given, watching as the silver trimming glinted as he moved it.</p>
<p>“An unbreakable connection, huh?”</p>
<p>That sounded like something Roxas wanted with Ven, too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Y'all, check out my twitter: @wayfinderings</p></blockquote></div></div>
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